Fisher's success carries over to Jennerstown Speedway

BRITTANY MCNAMARA/For the Standard-Speaker Travis Fisher of Fern Glen is pictured in victory lane at Jennerstown Speedway after winning at the western Pennsylvania track for the first time on Saturday night.

Track championships at Evergreen Raceway and New York’s Shangri-La II Speedway and numerous wins in 4-Cylinder Stocks, Late Models and Modifieds make him a proven star.

For Fisher, his real strength is in Late Model stock cars. He has been racing them since 2008 starting at Mahoning Valley Speedway. Once he started winning — he won three in his rookie season — there was no stopping him. Along with wins at Mahoning came victories at Evergreen, Shangri-La II and Chemung.

After winning the 2014 season opener at Evergreen, Fisher looked to expand on his abilities. In order to do so that meant traveling well beyond the area and head out to tracks where pavement Late Models are more prevalent.

So in mid-June Fisher and his Plum Air/Ed Thomashefsky Plumbing & Heating No. 8 team journeyed to CNB Bank Raceway Park in Clearfield for a 75-lap event.

As they rolled into the track early one day, not many others followed. Unfortunately the track canceled the race. Nearly three hours from home, the team was not looking to haul back with no results to show.

Making the best of a bad situation, they looked to Jennerstown Speedway, a 90-minute drive west of Clearfield and decided to take a try the half-mile oval for that night’s regular show.

What started as a bad day turned into a great night as Fisher surprised everyone with a solid performance by leading and then finishing a strong runner-up to Barry Awtey, a multi--time track champion.

After being passed for the lead, Fisher still stayed within close reach, giving Awtey a run for his money.

“We went out there with some decent expectations,’’ Fisher said. “I feel we have a very good team and can stack up pretty well wherever we go. To be able to go out and lead our first time there and outrun one of the best they have was pretty cool, but that was also a testament to our team.

“We were pretty fast right out of the trailer and have been pretty successful since.”

That was June 15 and a return on July 5 produced another inspiring run. Fisher was again showing his savvy by leading the feature until only 15 laps remained. That’s when a spark plug wire came loose and caused him to slow up. Awtey was able to drive by and take the win, while Fisher held on for another second-place tally.

The third time, however, was the charm for Fisher.

Last Saturday night things got off to a good start as he led every lap of his heat in taking his prelim win and earning the third starting spot for the main event. Garry Wiltrout started on the pole, but his time at the front was brief as Fisher passed him on lap five.

Not surprisingly, Awtey was in pursuit. The next dozen laps Fisher and he put on a thrilling lead-swapping race as they ran in side-by-side formation with Fisher on the outside of Awtey.

Then late in the race Matt Sever caught the frontrunners and in doing so was giving Awtey all kinds of pressure. That in turn allowed Fisher to gain some breathing room. However, Awtey shook free of Sever in the closing laps and zeroed in again on Fisher. Never wavering, Fisher held on for his career first Jennerstown victory.

“He would edge me on one lap and I would do the same to him the next.’’ Fisher said. “It was a long time since I drove a car quite that hard for a win and thankfully we prevailed. It was a great show for the fans for sure. After the race they were telling us it was the best Late Model race of the year. That is what it’s all about.

“It was a big deal to win there especially when you look at the competition. They have some of the best Late Model guys in the business running out there and to beat them on their home turf was incredible for us.”

Choosing to race at such a distance is not easy for a small budget team like Fisher’s team. But in looking at the big picture, it is what he needs to do in order to advance. He is very talented and at 25 years old has the skills to step into the next level of Late Model racing.

Not that racing staying locally is a bad thing, but for his goal, racing at Jennerstown and elsewhere is the way to go. He is now challenging drivers from western Pennsylvania, New York and Ohio. Competition breeds competition and Fisher is getting a plateful.

“Every one of them guys is top notch,’’ he said. “You can compare them to a Super Late Model car rather than what we have around here. I’m not saying anything against the guys from around here. It’s just that the class of cars there is as close to the next level you can get to say the NASCAR K&N Series.

“That is where we are kind of classed at and in the past few years we have moved our program towards the Super Late Model division of Jennerstown and Motordrome Speedway in Smithton. (Those) are really the only two tracks for us.”

Fisher still will race locally at times, but it’s in his best interest to continue on his climb up the ladder of success at tracks that can offer a more diverse group of drivers.

Those drivers must be just as ready to face off against the fearless Fern Glen racer as well.

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